On the way home last night I saw a poor guy that had dumped his bike on the A10 roundabout, he was ok, but the bike was dead. It reminded me of my accident last year.

Evidently slightly earlier the same night two guy’s racing, north bound on the A1 near Stevenage, came unstuck undertaking a BMW “at speed”. One bike hit the car. Both the car and one of the bikes left the road. I don’t know the fate of the biker, but I’m guessing it wasn’t good news, as the motorway was closed for well over an hour.
I’m not judging anyone, we all get carried away sometimes. Just remember to take a reality check when things get silly.

A mate of mine has just been on a cruise up to Scotland. Read about his adventures and excellent kit reviews at The Bike Nut!

Triumph Bonneville TT Special

It sounds like the title of a black and white horror! but that seems far from the truth…
I’d never really paid much attention to the Bonneville. A friend of the family had a Triumph Tiger when I was a wee nipper, back in the seventies, and I remember thinking that was the coolest thing I had ever seen, but I soon progressed to dreaming about the lasted machines from Japan.

When the joyous day arrived and my bike test pass slip was handed over, over 25 years ago, its been Jap bikes all the way, and although having the deepest respect for Norton’s and Triumphs etc I never seriously considered one. I commented a couple of months ago on the beautiful and exotic Metisse Desert Racer it was stunning.

But now after all this time, after picking up a friends MCN I saw the Bonneville driven by Evel Knievel, what a stunning bike. I guess after looking at others it was a TT Special.

I feel a classic coming on, there’s plenty of room next to the Fazer.

Well the Fazer has been behaving, just went in for its 20,000 mile service, whilst in the shop we got the dreaded call…. the rear wheel bearing has gone.

A bit of a bummer at 20k, but guess what wheel bearings aren’t covered under the warranty, seems bazaar for a “comprehensive” Yamaha warranty.

Bro replaced the three bearings in the rear wheel, the offending item being red with rust.

Also, the next service (25k) is a bad boy with 5 hours labour.

On a more positive note my balls seem to be growing back after last summers encounter with the tarmac. The sound of the pegs scraping the floor made me jump out of my skin.

Later

Here’s a cool site, lists up coming events, cars and bikes…
http://www.motoringevents.net

Wow! What a beast, now that’s how you make a bike. Excuse me while I wipe a tear away. Simple and beautiful, much like myself. LOL.

Anyway, British motorcycle company Mac are making a few hundred of these peaches. There are four bikes to choose from the Spud, Pea Shooter, Ruby and the Roarer, all stunning designs with Buells 500cc single propelling the lightweight chassis.

Supposedly under £10,000 which seams reasonable for limited run machines.

I like. Check out their story, they seem an interesting bunch
http://www.mac-motorcycles.com

Well its been a month or so and touch wood the Fazer’s been behaving. The new fuel pump relay seems to have done the trick.

Yesterday was the first day in a while that I’ve driven in on my own. Without fat boy Bro on the back, it’s like someone fitted a Nitros kit without telling me, blasting nicely out of the corners

I’m sure Bro says the same when I’m not in.

One of these bad boys came flying past yesterday, on the A41 at Brent Cross.

It looked great, I’m not sure what the rider was up-to, seemed to be flaffing around a bit.

But hey, I would love to flaff on one too.

But then again, the day before the new black 1198S came past on the back wheel (got all upset by a two-up Fazer overtaking)

You be the judge, I’m voting for the 1198.

Got the bike back from the dealer after another week, 40 miles down the road… stop for petrol…. pay…. back to bike…. guess what. RAC time

But hey this time (please let it be) they seem to have fixed it! *<:-)

After a huge list of spares replaced under warranty (Confirmed with Yamaha Customer Service, who are very helpful in these situations) it turns out to be a fuel pump relay! $%&^ers.

After weeks of £30 per day train tickets for both of us, its been eye watering.

Anyway its Spring/Summer and all is now well.

FZ-1 is back in the shop for the third time for ECU / front wiring loom troubles.

This is getting a bit dull, especially when the dealer takes two weeks to get round to sorting it out. The cheeky feckers lent it out to one of their mechanics! They only confessed when Bro noticed there was half a tank of petrol missing.

I’m starting to realise why so many people commute on BMW’s. They probably get treated with some respect.

Happy Happy.

At least we got a loaner, hopefully it belongs to the dealer.